Backstage Protection
by TeamChaosPrez
Summary: Lapis Lazuli had not realized it, but she had gained a whole new mission when she decided to side with the Homeworld gems; to protect Steven Universe. {Takes place after Jail Break. Lapidot. Cover by gracekraft.}
1. Prologue

Backstage Protection

A Steven Universe Fanfiction

Prologue

_A/N: Hey everyone! I know it's been a while since I posted anything on here, but fear not, I am back to it now. This is going to be circled mostly around Lapis, and you will see very little of the main four. Expect there to be Lapidot in later chapters, and maybe my headcanon for a Lapis and Peridot fusion._

Lapis Lazuli had not realized it, but she had gained a whole new mission when she decided to side with the Homeworld gems; to protect Steven Universe.

Yes, the little half-human had grown on her in the short time she'd known him; he had freed her from her mirror prison and healed her gem. He had gotten her _home, _which was all she really wanted at the time_. _So when Jasper had given herself an opening for Lapis to capture her and protect Steven, had there really been any question that she would take it?

Even if it left her stranded at the bottom of the ocean, trapped in the most intimate form any Gem could ever take with someone she hated...

No, she did not like being a half of Malachite. Not at all. She was having to continuously remind herself why she was keeping Jasper from breaking free and causing hell to break loose.

_For Steven. For Steven. For Ste-_

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH!"

The ocean gem was startled out of her thought process when her lips – no, not hers, Malachite's – suddenly moved and let out an outburst. This was the first time she'd been overpowered mentally by Jasper's consciousness.

"What are you doing?!" She replied, slightly panickedly, feeling herself being ripped away from the larger gem. She tried desperately to merge herself with Jasper again.

"SHUT UP, YOU LITTLE RAT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU KEEPING ME DOWN HERE IN THIS HELL YOU CALL AN OCEAN!"

And with that, the small blue gem found herself being flung through the water as her enemy broke free. She landed on her back, a few bubbles escaping her lips as she hit the ocean floor with an _oomph. _Several fish that had been nearby hurriedly fled the scene as Lapis, dazed, slowly sat up and rubbed her forehead.

She didn't notice Jasper lumbering towards her with a massive piece of rock until it was nearly too late, quickly rolling out of the way just as the stone smashed into the ground inches from her head.

She quickly tried to stumble backwards away from the other as she tried to haul the makeshift weapon from the sand. But...

_Wait. This is my zone, not hers. I can beat her._

Lapis hurriedly created a massive current to burst herself up to the surface, exerting her powers nearly to the limit to sprint across the water as fast as she possibly could.

She would have to stop her former superior, of course, but she would worry about that when she didn't also have to worry about getting her head pummeled in.

In her rushed panic, wondering how much time she had to hide, one thought crossed her mind.

_Peridot._

She had to find Peridot. The green gem was probably not as passionate about protecting Steven, but she knew that she liked her more than either of them had ever respected Jasper. Peridot would help her.

But where was she?

_To the north. That's where she fled from._

And so Lapis Lazuli headed in that direction, her fear being replaced with determination.


	2. Chapter 1

Backstage Protection: A Steven Universe Fanfiction

Chapter 1

_Thanks for the supportive comments! I couldn't reply to them this time around because I've been busy, but I'll get to them this time, I promise! And yes, Lapis ran because she's afraid of Jasper; without some way to control her, the poor baby doesn't like her chances much. Also, as a disclaimer, I would like to say I'm not very familiar with Canadian geography, so if anyone would like to help me with that a quick message would be nice. And finally, this chapter was whipped up on a limited timeframe and the next chapter should be much higher quality._

When Lapis surfaced as close to where Peridot's projectile had aimed as she could, her first thought was _it's too cold. _It was completely beyond her how any human could stand to live in this sort of weather. Generally, the blue gem didn't care for anything less than, say, Beach City's average temperature.

She quietly wrapped her arms around herself and started walking down the beach. Even the _sand _was fairly cold despite the bright sun shining down from above. The small being thought to herself silently, wondering what this part of Earth was called.

After some time, she found herself at the edge of a group of trees; a forest. Going into this expanse of uncharted territory made Lapis nervous, considering it was leading her further from the water and into no-man's land. However, she also knew that Jasper would be following behind her soon, and there was no way in hell she'd ever be able to defeat her former superior.

So she took a deep breath and moved into the expanse of trees, gripping her elbows and looking around silently. She had absolutely no clue where she was going, and until she could get to civilization and (hopefully) a map, she had no way of knowing where she was going.

The thought of just flying up to have a look around did indeed cross her mind, but she wanted as little attention as possible. A human would more than likely see her; and even if they were as dense as they had been five thousand years ago, Jasper might be up to the surface by now, and Lapis had no clue how good the larger gem's eyesight was.

Dark hopelessness flooded her chest a moment, but she quickly shook her head and continued onwards. _I have to keep going. If Peridot can't think of anything, then fine, I'll give myself up. But for now, I have to keep going._

She sucked in a quick unnecessary breath before allowing her voice to echo through the trees.

"Hello?"

No response. She bit her lip and pressed onwards. Space had not felt this lonely. Being trapped in a mirror, being used as a tool, had not felt this lonely.

"Is there anybody here?" Lapis called out again, squinting a bit to try and see further as her bare feet cracked old leaves and branches beneath her feet.

A glance up at the sky told her it was getting dark, but that was impossible. The sun had been too far up in the sky for night to be approaching so soon. The other answer quickly came to her, forever.

It was going to rain.

Most people would start thinking that things just kept getting worse, but water was Lapis's zone. She always felt more comfortable when her physical form was getting wet. And sure enough, when the first few drops started hitting her skin she already felt better.

Her steps began getting quicker and stronger, a newfound determination within her.

Lapis was going to make it. She was going to set everything right, and not even Yellow Diamond herself could stop her.


	3. Chapter 2

Backstage Protection

A Steven Universe Fanfiction

Chapter 2

_A/N: Thanks for the comments! I'm going to try to be semi-regular with these updates . . . maybe one every day or every other day, I'm not sure. With a break in a few months when finals come along, of course._

_Bluebucks – Thanks! __ You'll find out in this chapter, haha._

_M-gold – Thanks so much!_

How much time had passed? Lapis wasn't entirely sure, but she knew she had been walking for quite a while now, and it was completely dark in the woods. She was depending almost entirely on her own dumb luck; the wildlife around here was probably less than friendly, and she had no idea how she hadn't run into something by now.

She wasn't much of a physical fighter, and right now was a time in which she could only fly off or use her powers if it was absolutely necessary. She couldn't afford a mistake that would cost her the ability to move around on her own; even reverted into gem form she was in danger of Jasper's wrath (and probably even more so).

As the small gem walked through the forest, tired and the burst of confidence and energy slowly wearing off, a strange yet somehow familiar smell hit her. She furrowed her brow in confusion and sniffed the air carefully, trying to place how she knew it.

_Smoke… from a crash…_

There was a moment of her being excited by this realization, believing that she must have found the gem she was looking for. Lapis grinned widely and was about to run in the direction that the smell and the smoke were coming from, but she stopped herself.

_What if a human plane crashed? It might not be her. Or what if it's a trick? Jasper must be out of the water by now…_

She bit her lip and started moving forward again, though slowly and quietly. Some of the trees around her were starting to look broken and knocked over, so she figured she must be getting close. A clearing was now apparent just past where the trees were, some high-pitched grumbling also quite clear.

"Flipping Crystal Gems… broke all my things… broke the ship… can't break my _pride…"_

Yep, that was Peridot all right.

Lapis was about to rush out into the clearing when she realized that she hadn't really planned this through very well. What if Peridot _didn't _want to help her and was only loyal to her superiors and the Homeworld? What would she do then?

So focused was the blue gem on doubting herself that she didn't really notice that she'd been spotted until probably the third or fourth time her name had been said.

"Lapis!" The green gem declared again, both sounding and looking impatient.

"Uh . . . sorry." _Oh yeah, real nice, already mucked up…_

She huffed and marched up to Lapis. "We need to get back to the Homeworld and file a report! Where's Jasper?"

"We… don't exactly have a way to get back home anymore."

"That only answers _one _of my questions."

"I…. I'm not with Jasper anymore."

"_Why?"_

A pause as she thought about how to answer this. "Well, she forced me to fuse with her and I was worried that she was going to hurt Steven and I was just really _angry _and I mighta sorta dragged us both under the ocean and we were trapped there for a while but then she broke away and attacked me so I went in the direction I saw you land and…"

One of those weird fish stick fingers went up to Lapis's lips to keep her from talking anymore.

"So basically, Jasper is a bigger jerk than once thought, you've just come out of imprisonment, you're running from her, and you came straight to me?"

A small nod.

"Why?"

She shrugged. "I thought you'd know what to do."

Peridot paused before giving a firm nod. "We'll figure something out. But first, we should fix this escape pod…"


	4. Chapter 3

Backstage Protection

A Steven Universe Fanfiction

Chapter 3

_A/N: Sorry for the break everyone, I've had some pretty bad writer's block. Some of the portions in this chapter are referring to my one-shot Home, which is also uploaded here, so please check that out before continuing. At the time I'm writing this, the regular time I went to bed was 22 minutes ago, so please forgive any grammatical or continuity errors. I'm taking up too much time, so this chapter is short, but expect a longer one tomorrow!_

The following day was long for Lapis. Helping Peridot sort through everything they had collected, occasionally accidentally looking at her a bit longer than she meant to. Handing the green gem assorted pieces whenever needed until the sun had gone down and neither of them had any energy left to continue. Eventually, the cold had set in, and Lapis – being not only the older gem, but a survivor of the previous war – had been set in charge of lighting a fire and making this more of a camp than it had appeared at first.

Admittedly, she had let her guard down. Her trust in Peridot had been utterly shattered when she went back on her promise not to go to Earth personally, and Lapis had sworn to herself that she wouldn't let it happen and let her feelings for her get out of hand again. She'd cut whatever they had off and she intended to keep it cut off.

The ocean gem carefully laid some more underbrush over the fire, making the flames leap a bit higher. A quick glance was all she graced the other gem with, and she was pleased to notice that she was distracted; entranced by the light, maybe.

"Do you think we should even go home?"

Surprisingly, it wasn't her own voice that broke the silence above the crackling of the heat source. Dark blue eyes quickly, confusedly, shot up. Homeworld was all Peridot had ever known.

Lapis hesitated, poking at the flames with a long stick, before she spoke up.

"I think you should."

"What about you?"

Even more hesitation. She didn't know. _She didn't know. _She wished she could give a direct answer, but she knew she would be labelled as a traitor if she returned, and having that sentence thrown at her twice was _not _something that she wanted to live through.

"I'm not sure," she responded in a quiet voice, "I don't know if it's the best place to return to right now."

"Well, if you're not going back, then neither am I." Peridot replied in an uncharacteristically stubborn tone, crossing her arms.

"Why?" Lapis raised an eyebrow, not understanding.

"Look, I know I hurt you, and I'm sorry. I was under orders. I was under orders to do all that." The green gem glared at the fire, orange flickering across her visor. "And... I've been questioning the Diamond Authority since the first time you went missing. I don't want to lose you again, I can't afford to. Especially if it's just because I was ordered to do something that damaged your trust." A long pause. "I'm worry, Lapis."

The blue gem felt where her heart would be warm with affection, but she shook her head to chase it off.

"Look, Peri. I appreciate it. But... orders or not, I can't go back to whatever we had before. I can't do that to myself. I don't know if I can trust you again."

She could almost _feel _the other's sadness in the air, and that crushed her.

"I'm still sticking by you. I don't think I want to go home anyway."

"Peridot, it's all you've ever known."

"What's life without a few risks?"

Lapis glanced back up at her and smiled faintly, shaking her head fondly a bit. "Okay. Your choice. Not going to argue."

Something neither of them noticed, however, was that the leaves behind them were being crushed by something far larger than the both of them put together, dark grumbling accompanying the footsteps.


	5. Chapter 4

Backstage Protection

A Steven Universe Fanfiction

Chapter Four

_A/N: Okay, this is where the headcanons start. This one is fairly small; just regarding Peridot's weapon. If this information has been canonically released and is any different and you are reading this in the future; I am currently writing this April 8th, 2015, 9:13 PM EST. The next episode to premiere is "Story for Steven," which is released tomorrow. Also, I have most of this fic planned out now; the main Crystal Gems only have really big roles towards the end._

Lapis didn't notice that a much larger, much more muscular gem was approaching behind her until Peridot shouted at her to watch out. The ocean gem swiftly dove to the ground and rolled onto her back, propped up on her elbows so that her gem wouldn't touch the ground, so that she could both escape successfully and see her attacker.

Jasper was standing over her, fists clenched, and she didn't look happy. Her breath was coming out in angered growling noises, and she looked ready to snap at any moment. Terror quickly settling in, Lapis backed away as fast as she could on her elbows, knowing she wouldn't be able to just let her wings loose and fly away with Peridot stranded here and her former superior this close.

"Look, I don't want any more trouble-"

She was cut off when she was grabbed around the throat and lifted into the air, letting out a frightened and distressed sound. She couldn't help but wonder why Peridot wasn't doing anything if she cared so much.

"Then you shouldn't have trapped me at the bottom of your damn ocean!" Jasper snapped in a gruff voice and shook her victim slightly. Said gem cried out in pain a bit, the strain almost breaking her neck.

"Jasper, please, let me go!" Lapis begged desperately, trying to pry the large hands from around her. "Please! I'll never bother you again, I won't even go back to Homeworld, just let me go! I'm sorry for everything I did!"

"It's too late for sorry!" The massive soldier almost yelled harshly, her gem flashing slightly as a helmet formed around her head and face. The smaller gem braced herself for impact, squeezing her eyes shut.

The hard tip of the weapon connected with her forehead and she let out a muffled cry, vision starting to get a little blurry as she went limp but started struggling again. "Let me go! Let me-"

She was cut off when Jasper put her hands on either side of her head, the perfect angle to snap her neck. Lapis's breathing sped up and she went deathly still, praying to whatever higher power there was that the larger gem would let her go instead of making her retreat back into her gem. She couldn't lose any more time.

Neither noticed, however, that Peridot had in fact moved. The small green gem ducked so that she was at a desirable angle and quickly thrust the electrified tip of a long staff against Jasper's abdomen. The largest of the trio let out an angry shout and dropped Lapis immediately, turning her attention to her former underling.

_**"Traitor!"**_

__Peridot flinched, though she tried to hide it, and gripped her staff a little harder, expression hardening to a glare. She remained silent as Jasper spoke again.

"You're just as bad as she and those 'Crystal Gems' are!" She stormed over to Peridot, though she glanced at the staff nervously. She hadn't known what the green gem's weapon was, apparently. "You can expect this to be reported! I hope they decide to ground you into dust!"

The smallest of the three gems seemed to lose her composure a moment before looking even more determined. "And what if I decide never to go back home?"

"Then they'll hunt you down, and I'll be a part of it, you little rat!"

A heavy sigh before she thrust her weapon again, this time connecting with Jasper's chest. The muscular gem nearly screamed, quickly backing away.

Lapis got to her feet as well, trying to get into a fighting stance despite how blurry her vision started to get. She met Jasper's glare with a hard one of her own, waiting for the next move to be made as she moved to be next to Peridot.

This was like a more dangerous version of chess. Don't move out of turn, don't let the enemy make the smarter move. Keep your calm, keep your logic, and be ready to counter with the best move you can think of.

After what seemed to be thousands of years, Jasper finally put her hands up in a show of surrender. "Alright, alright. But you won't get away with this. I'll come back, and I'll beat both of you into the ground. Smash your pretty little faces in. Drag you directly to Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond and see what they decide to do with you."

With that, she turned to leave, wild white hair swooshing as she marched back into the treeline. However, Lapis had a hard time believing she was done quite yet, so the blue gem let her wings extend quickly. She glanced around to make sure nobody was watching besides Peridot before wrapping her arms around her partner just under her shoulders and taking off into the air.

"What are you doing?" The green gem was quick to question, tensing up as the ground got further away. The course was a little wobbly; the pilot wasn't used to this much weight when she was off on a flight.

"Getting us out of here." The ocean gem replied nonchalantly, glancing down as she got to the edge of Earth's innermost atmosphere. The continent was fairly easy to recognize along the coast, and luckily, the town she was looking for was on the coast.

"But all our hard work!" Peridot protested in her usual whiny voice, clinging to Lapis's arms a little as she stared downward at the planet.

"Change of plans. If the Crystal Gems could survive this long without technology, I'm sure we could. You still have the thing with your hand, anyway." She recognized the area she was looking for and started flying downwards in that direction. "Besides, Jasper knows where that spot is. What if she decides she wasn't done?"

"She said she was though!"

"Peri, you can't just trust what she says like that. She's dangerous. She could seriously hurt us."

Peridot pouted and muttered something about Lapis's trust issues, but didn't otherwise object. Instead, the next question was a reasonable one.

"Okay, but where are we going?"

"Beach City."


	6. Chapter 5

Backstage Protection

A Steven Universe Fanfiction

Chapter Five

_A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry this is late again... I'm going to try to update at least once a week now, I promise. The Lapidot portion of the story should be picking up a bit in this chapter._

As the hours passed, Lapis's exhaustion grew. The flapping of her wings was growing increasingly floppy and forced, and her unnecessary breath was coming in quick gasps. Her arms were sore from the slightly shorter gem in her arms weighing her down. She was struggling to remain high up enough in the air to see her destination from her current location.

"Do you need to take a break?" Peridot asked, looking up at her with concern in her light green eyes. Lapis had to give her this much credit, she was making it hard to keep the affection at bay.

Unable to catch her breath enough to give a simple 'no,' she just shook her head and continued on her path. Peridot gave a tight lipped frown but didn't object further, just keeping her eyes on the path.

It took a while for her passenger to speak up once more. "You really need to take a break. You'll have to retreat into your gem if you exhaust yourself too far."

There was logic in that statement, but it didn't defer the gem from her stubborn refusal to stop flying. "We need to get there soon."

"But _why _do we need to go to Beach City? That's where those Crystal Gems that are always destroying my things live. We don't need a run in with them." Peridot whined suddenly, catching Lapis off guard.

The ocean gem sighed heavily and spoke between heavy pants. "We can avoid them, it's not impossible. We're going there because not only is Steven Universe there, if Jasper follows the Crystal Gems will more than likely confront her and we'll be safe wherever we decide to hide."

"Remind me why the Steven is so important?" She didn't need to look at the green gem's face to know she was pouting.

"He's my friend. He's done nothing but try to help me." She knew her companion wouldn't necessarily understand, considering Peridot had only had a few friends in her lifetime. "He healed my gem and helped me get back to the Homeworld. Then he tried to get me to let him break out of his prison. I think he tried to contact me while I was stuck under the ocean." A pause. "He's important to me, Peridot."

A huff of acceptance was the only response. At least she wasn't trying to argue. Maybe it was because she knew that Lapis wouldn't hesitate to leave her behind if she refused to come alone.

Well, maybe she'd hesitate a _little, _but she'd definitely leave.

"About how long until we get there?"

"We're a little less than halfway."

"You're not gonna make it."

An unamused and slightly insulted look was given as Lapis continued moving.

"I'm serious. And even if you do make it, you'll be out of commission for a while, and I don't know a thing about Earth geography."

"Would you have a little faith?" She snapped, patience wearing thin.

Peridot put her hands up and spoke defensively. "I'm not having a lack of faith, Lapis. Your stamina isn't good enough. I know you well enough to tell you that."

It was kind of hard to ignore flat logic, but Lapis was doing her best to.

"Lapis, please. Let's land and camp out for a little while. You need rest."

The concern in her voice was enough to make the ocean gem sigh heavily and give in, slowly going downwards at an angle to land. She set Peridot down on the ground and landed next to her, catching her breath and sighing a little in relief when the pressure was off of her arms.

"Are you alright?" The green gem asked with a small tight frown.

Lapis nodded slightly and slowly sat on a nearby log. Luckily, she had found another clearing in another forest, so the two aliens were fairly covered and secure. The temperature of the air was far higher than it had been when they took off, indicating that they were farther south than their previous location.

Peridot seemed to hesitate before sitting beside her with her arms at her side. "Uh, if you want to lay down you can use my lap as a pillow."

The ocean gem gave her a slightly suspicious look and checked her face for any malice. Upon finding none, she laid down slightly awkwardly with her head on the other's lap. Sure enough, her energy appeared to be recovering more quickly.

"Thank you…" She murmured, closing her eyes and relaxing. She didn't sleep – there was no time to imitate that human habit – but she was far more at ease than she had been before.

And so the two gems stayed like that for a few hours, getting strength back and waiting for the sun to rise.


	7. Chapter 6

Backstage Protection

A Steven Universe Fanfiction

Chapter 6

_A/N: I now have a schedule for this. I plan to be done in mid-May, with a one-shot between each chapter that will be posted separately. Also, thanks for 70+ follows; this is the most attention any of my fics has ever gotten!_

The sun rose with a red sky the next morning, and Lapis and Peridot were in the air again before much time could pass. The blue gem seemed to be far stronger after a night of rest, and it was easier for her to cross the Earth's atmosphere and move towards Beach City at a productive pace.

"About how long until we get there?" The green gem asked, looking up at her companion curiously. She wasn't intending for it to be a bratty question.

"We should be there by midday." Lapis answered, making a small estimate based on their current distance from their destination. "Not too long, I think. Six human hours, maybe."

Though Peridot had no clue how long an hour was, she nodded and accepted the answer, watching the horizon. There seemed to be nothing interesting as far as she could see, and not much water either. She wondered how Lapis's strength would hold up this far from her main power source.

Hours passed, conversation and a few stories passed between the two gems. It seemed that the longer they flew the better they got along; almost to the point each could consider the other a friend.

"So we're staying on Earth?" Peridot asked after some silence had taken over their conversation.

"Like I said, _I _am. Whether you do is up to you." The ocean gem responded, taking note of some dark clouds gathering over them and covering up the previously bright sun.

"_Where _on Earth?" The green gem spoke again, this time with a slight stubborn edge to her voice. Yeah, she was probably going to stick around as well.

"Peri, this isn't really a vacation destination. This planet is stuck in the minds of the Authority as a place where traitors go. If you stay, you won't ever be able to go back home." Lapis spoke, trying to keep her voice calm and firm.

"I know." The green gem responded, still looking up at her.

She sighed heavily and spoke again. "I don't know, I could probably find a shipwreck or something and shift the water around it so that there's an air bubble so your machines don't break."

Peridot nodded once more, satisfied with that answer.

By now, both of them were aware of the dark gathering of threatening clouds above them, and worry was starting to build. Neither of them said a word, however. Lapis had flown her way through space; she would be able to make it through a little storm.

Right?

"Maybe we should land until the storm passes." Peridot spoke nervously, feeling the first few drops of rain lightly splatter onto the skin of her physical form and the gem on her forehead.

"No, we don't have enough time." Lapis answered stubbornly, and it almost seemed like she had started to fly a bit faster.

"We'll have even less time if one or both of us gets hurt."

The ocean gem ignored that warning, continuing on her way to Beach City. She wasn't willing to stop when she was so close. There were just a few hours' worth of flying ahead, and she could see clear skies just a little while in front.

Water began falling from the sky in thick curtains, completely soaking both gems before either had the chance to react. Lapis let out a small growl of frustration when she noticed she couldn't see as well. The most clear image she got was of a long streak of something bright – most likely lightning – striking a tall tree ahead of them.

_Oh, perfect, _she thought to herself, and prayed to whatever higher power there was that she would not be hit. It couldn't kill her, of course, but water was a good conductor of electricity, and that was exactly what her wings were built of.

"Lapis, please," Peridot pleaded, nervously eyeing the clouds above them, "you have to land. It's too dangerous."

She still didn't listen, but within moments she would wish she had.

There was a bright flash, and she suddenly felt an intense _burning _in her back that spread through her entire body. She heard someone scream, and with a sort of shock realized it was her. Her companion was shouting too, of course, but she didn't hear it very well over her own voice.

Everything went dark as the two began plummeting to the ground.


	8. Chapter 7

Backstage Protection

A Steven Universe Fanfiction

Chapter 7

_A/N: I would say I'm sorry for the last chapter, but... y'know, I'm really not. This is the last chapter I'll be posting until Friday, just to warn you!_

Peridot had no idea how long she had been unconscious, but when she slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes and flinching when the burns on her flesh were moved, she knew it was a miracle that she hadn't had to retreat into her gem to recover from the combination of the lightning strike and the fall to the ground. She sighed heavily when she realized that her gear wasn't working, beginning to carefully pry it off so that she wouldn't be weighed down by things that didn't even work.

"I told you to take a break," she grumbled, expecting a retort from Lapis. When there was none, however, the technician's blood ran cold. "Lapis, c'mon, answer me." She spoke, worry building in her chest as she stood completely, wincing as she jostled her burns further.

With a quick glance around, she realized that it was night, and her blue companion wasn't near enough to be seen. Her breath caught in her throat as she began walking, calling out for Lapis and never getting an answer.

Once a few hours had passed, she returned to where she had landed, her breathing starting to come in quick gasps. No, not again. Lapis couldn't be ripped away from her like this _again. _What if they never found each other? Or what if the other gem was – how dare she for thinking it – _dead? _Destroyed, leaving Peridot to be doomed to search for her the rest of her long life?

She fell to her knees, hugging herself. She felt lightheaded and dizzy all of a sudden. She knew Lapis had said that whatever was between them before had ended back on the hand ship, but Peridot couldn't help that her feelings for her hadn't gone away whatsoever. Not that she was going to force anything on the other gem, of course, but she still cared immensely for her, whether it be as a friend or as a lover.

Once the world stopped spinning, she noticed a little glimmer in the leaves in front of her. Green eyes narrowed as she hurried over to the source of the shine and started parting the leaves to find a very familiar dark blue gemstone.

A small sigh of relief left Peridot as she lifted the lapis lazuli into her hands. _She just had to recover. That's alright. She'll be fine, _she reassured herself, looking around again to try and find a place where she could hide.

There was no way on Earth she could get to Beach City without Lapis; the ocean gem was the one with the wings to know where they were going and was the closest to having the trust of the Crystal Gems. She would have to take cover until her companion was regenerated and able to move again.

She quickly found a small opening in the roots of a tree and crawled in, pleased to discover that there was an opening just large enough to fit herself in.

"You're gonna be alright," she murmured to the gem in her hands, carefully stroking the smooth surface. "I'm gonna protect you as best I can, and when you get back we'll start on our way again."

Peridot sighed and shifted so that she was sort of laying down, creating a small yet soft pillow near her out of moss and leaves and gently setting the lapis lazuli down on it. She carefully curled up around the gem and pillow, protectively guarding it from anything that might want to commit some sort of thievery.

The green gem thought she was safe for now, and believed that Lapis would be back in a few days. Unfortunately for her, she was only about half right.


	9. Chapter 8

Backstage Protection

A Steven Universe Fanfiction

Chapter 8

_A/N: Sorry, I was planning to have this up a few hours ago, but I got a little caught up watching Parks and Rec... anyway, we get a little bit of Jasper in this chapter, because everyone could use a bit of big buff cheeto puff in their lives._

It had been three weeks since Jasper's run-in with the brat and the nerd, and it seemed like every moment that passed she got angrier and angrier. And when she was angry, the large gem was about as far from pleasant as any being of any species could be.

She currently stood over the half-repaired escape pod she had found Lapis and Peridot near, glaring at the wrecked technology. Her large hands clenched into fists, yellow eyes closing as she made herself take a deep and calming breath. She needed to keep her temper if she was going to get anything done.  
She knelt by the wreckage and started shuffling through the scrap metal and various parts, trying to find something – anything – she could use as a communications device. She wasn't a technician by all means, but she knew the basic programming that would get her a decent signal to Homeworld. She just needed something originating from her planet with a screen.

Within some time, she lifted a small object into her hands with a smile. It somewhat resembled a human iPhone, with some green specks where she could press in the code. Yes, this would work nicely.

. . . If it would turn on.

Her face turned downwards into a snarl again as she shook the device lightly. "Come on, turn on! You can't be out of charge." She didn't have a power source at her expense, and she didn't have the gift of time on her side. If she arrived back much later than scheduled without an explanation, she would receive the single greatest punishment a warrior like herself could imagine. Not that she was entirely sure what it was, but countless threats from the Diamond Authority had left her afraid to find out.

And if this thing was broken . . . well, that was even more trouble, and there was no way she wanted to be stuck on this miserable planet the rest of her long life. Returning home wouldn't even be an option if she couldn't make contact. Being punished for circumstances out of her control was _not _something that the brute wanted to go through.

… Well, okay, maybe the outcome _had _been in control. She had lost her temper and started just hitting blindly. If she'd had a spare destabilizer on her, things would certainly have been much, much different.

And, of course, this realization fed into her also realizing that the punishment would be even harsher. So she restricted the urge to smash it into a tree, deciding instead to continue mashing on the power button while mentally pleading for it to work.

Finally, the screen lit up with a Triforce-esque symbol. It was turning on, thank the Diamonds. Jasper sighed in relief, waiting for it to load before pressing in the code that would bring her into contact with her boss.

After what felt like an eternity, a face that looked almost like that of a goddess appeared on the screen. As soon as Yellow Diamond realized who was on the other end, the look on her face went from flat to one of rage, as it tended to do frequently. She had a temper as firey and hot as the sun her hair was based on.

"Jasper! Where the hell have you been?" The leader snapped, her voice cutting like daggers. "You have been gone for so much longer than you had scheduled. The mission on Earth is not some simple little vacation through which you can dawdle and sight see."

"I know." Jasper responded, trying to sound professional and serious to hide her fear for the diamond. "There was an unexpected difficulty, ma'am."

"And what difficulty is that?" Yellow demanded through her teeth.

"The Crystal Gems. There are still four of them left. Well, three, if you count the fusion as one. And Rose Quartz – she – I don't know what she did, but there's a human boy with her power that managed to get past the force fields. He's immune to the destabilizer technology."

A stony look reappeared on Yellow Diamond's face. "... I see."

"So, ma'am, if I may request backup -"

She stopped talking, too nervous to continue further. There were few things Jasper feared, and the Diamond Authority was one of them.

Yellow Diamond seemed to think some time before speaking once more. "Very well. But only because I'm assuming that what you say is true, Jasper. If no threat exists, there will be serious repercussions for you."

"Yes, ma'am."


	10. Chapter 9

Backstage Protection

A Steven Universe Fanfiction

Chapter 9

_A/N: I am legitimately surprised to see how many people are reading and enjoying this story. Thank you so, so much to all 88 of you that are following this. I decided to switch around this chapter and the next (this was originally supposed to be chapter 10/11) because the next one centers around Steven and I didn't want to take too long a break from Peridot and Lapis._

Peridot was becoming progressively more and more worried the longer she carried around the gemstone and Lapis didn't regenerate. Occasionally, she would begin to feel herself starting to doubt that her companion would ever come back at all, though she always pushed these concerns down to the back of her mind and continued to do her best to keep hidden.

Being idle so long was causing her to occasionally dose off and black out, and she assumed that this meant she was going into a sort of sleep mode. This was what was happening in this moment; with the lapis lazuli cradled in her arms, she could feel her eyes start to close and her thoughts going blank.

However, a sudden massive vibration in her arm shocked her out of her doze. She felt whatever she had to substitute for blood run cold; she was not supposed to be receiving any transmissions. Her technology that she had kept for aesthetic reasons wasn't even supposed to be _working._

The green gem sucked in a deep breath and moved her fingers into screen formation. To her surprise, rather than her leader's face, a strange code she had never seen before filled the pale green of the tech. She could tell it sourced from Homeworld, though she couldn't understand exactly what it said.

Peridot narrowed her eyes, not sure what any of it meant. _Was there an upgrade in the last three weeks? _She thought to herself, shapeshifting a pen out of a finger on her other arm and copying down the message onto her thigh. She could tell that the power was draining from how numb her hand was becoming, and she wanted to know what the message said.

Sure enough, just as she was copying the last of the characters onto her skin, the screen went completely blank and her fingers once more went to their usual place floating just off of her hand. She sighed heavily, for a moment wondering how she was going to get anything done without her technology, but quickly decided that wasn't important at the moment and quickly went to studying the code.

"Interesting," she mused to herself, tracing the careful strokes gently. "It looks like it has roots in the written language, but is a little bit altered. There was definitely an update to the language." Peridot shook her head a little and went back to trying to decode it.

"It appears as though some letters could be either one. I should be able to figure this out in a few days," her internal monologue continued as she shapeshifted a pen again, ready to write what she had decoded on her other thigh. "Hopefully it's nothing urgent."

She hummed a little bit, figuring out that the first letter was an 'a' and writing that down. She was, in a way, relieved to have received this transmission; she needed something to do that wasn't just hold the lapis stone near to her and wait idly.

She worked near around the clock, occasionally glancing up to make sure nothing had changed with her friend's gem. _She must have been hurt pretty badly if this is taking so long, _she thought to herself, continuing her work in silence.

"If you don't come back soon, I may have to force you," she spoke jokingly, though her tone was dry as it tended to be when she talked in jest.

Of course, there was still no reply, and she sighed heavily, resuming her decoding. As she quickly scribbled the translations onto her skin, she barely registered when a third party had entered the small space in the tree.

Peridot glanced up to see an earthly creature – a squirrel, perhaps – holding a certain blue stone and nibbling on it lightly. "Hey!" She snapped, immediately getting defensive. "Put that down!"

This only startled the small mammal, and it took off with its treasure, probably thinking that it was a nut or some other food source.

The green gem gave chase almost immediately, not catching herself grumbling about how people always mess with her stuff.


	11. Chapter 10

Backstage Protection

A Steven Universe Fanfiction

Chapter 10

_A/N: Sorry I didn't have this up last night, I felt like shit and just wanted to watch TV and come up with fluffy headcanons instead of writing. But yeah, here you go, one chapter a day late. This chapter centers around Steven and Pearl rather than the Homeworld Gems._

Steven Universe sat at the edge of the water, staring at the setting sun as it sunk below the surface of the horizon. He had really tried to hide his worry since the Malachite incident, but occasionally, when he felt like no one was watching, he would walk down to the beach and stare at the water, half expecting Lapis to come up at any moment.

Unfortunately for him, a certain tall Gem had noticed him sitting there and came down to sit next to him. Pearl hesitated momentarily before putting a hand on his shoulder. "Steven . . . are you alright?"

He nodded a little, still looking out at the water. "I just really miss Lapis. I hope she's okay." He glanced over at her with his head tilted slightly. "Do you think we'll ever see her again?"

She stayed quiet a moment, not entirely sure what to say, before taking a quick breath and trying to get her thoughts across as best she could. "I believe that Lapis is as alright as she can be with the current circumstances," she spoke, pulling her knees to her chest. "And I do believe that, when she thinks it is right, she will come to the surface again. She's been a prisoner long enough in the past that I don't believe she would want to stay like this for long."

The boy nodded a little and turned back to looking at the water. "And we won't hurt her when we see her again, right?"

"Only if it's necessary to keep you safe. We'll leave her unharmed otherwise. And I'm sure she won't want to hurt you, considering how much you've helped her."

He stared at the water for a time, keeping silent for a few minutes as he listened to the soothing whispers and sounds of the sea. The ocean was a familiar thing to him, but that didn't stop its beauty from striking him speechless every day. He supposed that must've been one of the traits he'd inherited from the mother he'd never known.

"Pearl, if she comes back and doesn't hurt anyone and promises to be good, do you think that she might be able to become a Crystal Gem?" He asked, leaning his head on his guardian's pale arm without looking up at her.

Pearl thought about that a moment. She wasn't sure if she could ever trust Lapis, but she couldn't speak to the entirety of the team. Besides, she hadn't come out here to be brutally honest. She had come out to reassure Steven.

"Most likely." She responded after thinking on it a while. "We would have to keep an eye on her for a while, to make sure she wasn't trying to trick us into anything. And I don't think she would be that quick to forgive and trust us, if she ever does do either of those. But either way, I think that someday she could become a Crystal Gem. Heaven knows you like her enough."

A smile lit up the child's face after listening to her speak, and she knew immediately that she had made the right call in her answer. Chubby little sausage arms flung around her in a hug that startled her a moment but was quickly returned.

"Besides, Garnet is still looking for her and Jasper, and she's probably covered a lot of the ocean by now. I'm sure we'll see them any day now."

Her boy's spirits seemed to have been lifted significantly, which brought hers up as well. She had actually succeeded in what she had come to do for once. That was pretty nice for a change.

"Thanks, Pearl." Steven looked up at her with a grin, stars in his dark eyes.

"You're welcome, Steven." A smile made its way onto her face as well as she carefully patted his head.


	12. Chapter 11

Backstage Protection

A Steven Universe Fanfiction

Chapter 11

_A/N: Hoooo-ly crap, I cannot believe how terrible I am at this. I'm going to have this chapter, a chapter of Far, Far Away, and a one-shot up today. I promise. Really sorry that this update is almost a week late, I'll try not to do it ever again. Here's a long update to make up for it. Peace._

Peridot had finally caught up with the little beast, and she was utterly exhausted from chasing it around all day. Her hair was tangled and a mess, several little scrapes all along the green flesh of her physical form, a scowl upon her face. She slowly approached the little squirrel, which was staring at her with its dark and beady eyes while holding the lapis lazuli stone to its disgusting, furry little body.

"Alright, I've caught you. Now, give me the gem." She snarled, taking a few cautious steps forward. The heavy boots she wore made it borderline impossible to walk up to it quietly, and she had learned the hard way that this was a very good method to startle it.

Its ears twitching, the squirrel continued to watch it with slightly frightened eyes. It made a faint squeaking sound, turning its tail a little and looking like it was about to bolt. The mammal continued to watch Peridot a moment before bringing the teardrop-shaped stone up to its mouth and giving it a little nibble, almost as if it was doing everything within its power to piss the technician off. And, as embarrassing as it was to have something so small and weak get under her skin, it was working – and rather well at that.

She gave an enraged shout and dove at the squirrel. The animal almost seemed to scream, giving up its purpose by dropping the gem onto the floor and darting off as fast as it could up a tree. It continued to watch her carefully momentarily before disappearing into a little hole in the wood.

Peridot gave a long sigh and carefully picked the stone up. It seemed to be unharmed from the little escapade, not even a scratch on the smooth blue surface. "I hope you're happy." The green gem grumbled in the grumpiest way possible before putting the gemstone in her sleeve. It wasn't the comfiest place in the world, but it would at least keep Lapis safe until she regenerated. "I've had to go through so much trouble trying to keep you out of harm's way, and I'm even failing at that."

Not that she was unhappy that she had managed to rescue her downed comrade; in fact, she felt more accomplished than she had the first time she successfully repaired something. She sighed heavily and started walking again, looking for a place where she could be safe and hidden while she tried to decode the message and waited for Lapis.

After some time, she finally discovered a small group of rocks that seemed to be hollow on the inside. A small smile reached her lips for the first time in a while, and she quickly darted over to the small makeshift shelter.

It took a bit of time – she had to move a few stones to fit, and she wasn't the most physically strong gem in the word – but she eventually had crawled into the hollow space within the rocks and started decoding what was on her thigh onto her other leg. This was almost needlessly difficult; Peridot considered herself a smart gem, but there were so many unnecessary strokes and characters that confounded her to no end. This was a very painstaking task, and was turning out to be a very _long _one as well.

She wasn't sure how long she had been in her little cave, but she knew it had been several days; the sun had set and risen, she had listened to many birds and other animals come and go, and it had even rained at one point. Even with these days of work, she had not managed to get very far; the decoded text on her thigh simply read "_ATTENTION ALL GEMS CURRENTLY REPORTING TO HOMEWORLD CURRENTLY STATIONED ON EARTH." _That was strange, she hadn't known that more than just herself and Jasper had been sent.

She supposed that what she had so far would help her suffer through the rest, as many of the letters had been decoded and there were not many more than there were in the human alphabet. This had commanded all of her attention since she had crawled among the rocks, and it was exhausting and taxing. The technician wanted nothing more than to rest, but she knew there wasn't enough time to relax.

Because she was so distracted by what she was doing, she would not have been able to notice the large dark shadow that signified that something very large was approaching her from the direction the sun was in. And because she did not notice that something was coming, she did not have the adequate time to prepare before an unholy excessive amount of light hit her as the stones that protectively covered her were ripped away and thrown to the side.

Peridot very nearly screamed in surprise when she quickly looked up and saw Jasper standing there with her arms crossed. If she had a heartbeat, it would be thudding loudly enough to be heard in her ears. She could feel herself begin to panic as she scrambled backward.

"Hello, brat." Jasper seethed through her teeth, taking a few threatening steps forward as Peridot stared like a deer stuck in headlights. "Where's Lapis?"

Thinking quickly, the green gem came up with a story that she almost tripped over several times. She knew that Lapis was vastly more powerful than Jasper, and it was a possibility that the big brute was a little intimidated by the small but mighty blue gem.

"She went out looking for something. She said she'd be back s-soon. In fact, she could come back out through the trees any m-moment. And she won't be happy to see you here."

The orange gem snorted and grabbed her smaller enemy by the arm, making her squeak in fear as green eyes locked onto the larger's yellow ones.

"I don't blame her. Maybe she knows I'll beat her senseless." Jasper snorted. "At least I have you alone for now, though. Without her to mess everything up, I can kick your ass without her intervening. How would you prefer to be executed?"

Peridot stared at her with wide eyes, fear constricting her throat and keeping her from giving any sort of answer as she just dangled tensely, her unnecessary breathing becoming quick, ragged, and shallow. "L-Let me go!" was the first thing that popped into her mouth as she started frantically kicking at her former superior's abdomen, trying desperately to free herself even though reason told her it was no use.

A dark chuckle left Jasper's throat as she lifted Peridot so that their faces were level, her brick-like crash helmet appearing on her face with a faint flash from her gem. "No, but I'll give you some sort of pity. I'll make this quick, and maybe you'll still be alive when we get back to Homeworld."

The technician was barely able to whimper before she felt herself fall from the larger gem's grip after her arm received a nice and hard tug. She fell to the ground with a small 'oomph,' landing sprawled on her back as a shape slightly taller than herself sprinted out in front of her in a defensive stance.

"Leave." Lapis warned, a long stretch of water resembling a hand just behind the two. Peridot was confused a moment, unsure of where she had found the source, before she traced back the hand with her eyes and concluded that there was a small freshwater lake several hundred yards away. Under different circumstances, she would have been in awe of how far the ocean gem could stretch her abilities.

Jasper snorted slightly and quickly rushed at Lapis, who slipped out of the way and swept her leg at the larger gem's knees in an attempt to knock her over. The hand crashed into the brute, pushing her back a ways and holding her down. That probably wouldn't last very long, considering that Jasper was rather large and angry, but it would be enough.

Lapis quickly grabbed Peridot just under her armpits and quickly flew into the air with her stamina greatly increased by whatever gems have in place of adrenaline. Strong watery wings flapped quickly as the two gained altitude and started a rapid journey south.

The blue gem glanced down at the green one, all business for now considering they didn't have enough time to thank each other or be any sort of sappy. "Is she following us?" Lapis asked in a voice that reminded Peridot of a soldier or an officer.

The technician glanced behind them and to the ground, but she wouldn't have been able to tell if her life depended on it. The trees covered the area almost completely, and even something as large and bright as Jasper would be concealed by the protective cover of foliage.

"I don't know. I can't see her anywhere." She gave her answer. "But I did get a message while you were gone. I've been trying to decode it. We need to go somewhere safe."

Lapis nodded in understanding and glanced around before lowering herself over the ocean, sinking both herself and her passenger into the water. Jasper probably wouldn't want to return to the water after being stuck in it for a while, and gems didn't need to breathe. This would work out fine.


	13. Chapter 12

Backstage Protection

A Steven Universe Fanfiction

Chapter 12

_A/N: I'm actually really close to finishing this, and it's making me a little emotional. Just a few chapters left. And hey, this update is actually on time! I'll also have a one-shot about Lapis up later today._

Lapis had mostly just been walking around in the water, occasionally peeking at Peridot to see how the decoding was going. She seemed to be mostly finished, the writing on her thigh almost matching the length of the message on her other leg. They had been beneath the water for at least a day by now, and as much as the ocean gem loved her domain, she was getting fairly bored and impatient. She had no idea where Jasper was, and that made her anxious and frightened her; what if the brute was going after herself and Peridot, or had gone to Beach City to attack Steven and the Crystal Gems?

The message was fairly short to begin with, but Lapis only was literate up to the language that had existed before she was imprisoned in the mirror. It had gone through quite a few changes since then, to the point she didn't even recognize them as words, just strange symbols. So she had no way of knowing exactly what was going on unless her friend could manage to decode the transmission.

So she had been exploring the ocean floor, watching the Earth wildlife go about their daily routines and finding countless sunken ships, which she typically crept into in order to see if there was anything worth keeping inside. She didn't think much of the treasures of this planet, but she knew that there was a certain beach summer fun buddy that might appreciate a few shiny objects of value if she ever saw him again. Not to mention it made her feel powerful, knowing that she had complete control over something that had taken so many lives and wrecked so many large boats. On one occasion, she swore she had seen a human female with a long fish-like tail, but she hadn't thought much of anything about it; she'd seen weirder.

Lapis crept into a rather large ship with multiple gaping holes of blackness in the hull, able to see remarkably well in the dark as she looked around at what had probably once been a magnificent sight. The ship seemed to be very old, and the skeletons she spotted while wandering wore clothing unlike what she saw on most modern humans. She carefully moved past a shark that was calmly swimming through, looking around for drawers or boxes or anything else she could pillage to find something worth taking.

She was definitely a Gem that preferred solitude, and the ocean was nothing but. Quiet and peaceful, where she would be left alone with the exception of the occasional playful dolphin that would dart up to her and playfully poke her with its nose. Sometimes, she forgot she had company as she listened to the whales sing. Of course, she would always be reminded that she wasn't alone when Peridot would think she had been abandoned and call out for her in a panic.

The blue gem thought that, maybe, she wouldn't mind staying down here once they had arrived in Beach City. She would be nearby if she was needed, and she would be in the closest thing she had to home almost all the time. It was calming, knowing she had a place to stay and return to when she needed it; this was something that had avoided her for thousands of years.

Lapis finally found a desk, and carefully opened it to find a small cracked telescope. Not the most fabulous of artifacts, she supposed, but it might be fascinating. She lifted the item and placed it into her pocket – the only real change she had made to her physical form when she regenerated.

She then proceeded to leave the ship through the same hole she had entered with and sit in the sand, staring up at the light filtering down from the surface of the water. She felt strangely at peace as she pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them, closing her eyes as she listened to one of the large, majestic orcas let out a low sound as it passed overhead.

_This is nice. I could get used to this. _She thought to herself as a small, rare smile crossed her lips. It was better than the Homeworld she had returned to, that was for sure. While she would always miss her original home, she supposed she would be better off under the water than anywhere else.

She found herself ripped out of her thoughts, however, when she heard a high voice call out for her. Sound traveled rather well through water, and Lapis had good hearing to begin with, so she visibly flinched when she heard her name before actually getting up and returning to Peridot.

"Did you figure it out, or did you just get lonely?" She asked, sounding somewhat tired, which she supposed was the feeling she got when relaxed. Always tired, just a perpetual feeling of sleepiness when she wasn't absolutely ecstatic or in a blind panic.

"I actually have it, thanks a lot." Her partner scoffed, light green eyes narrowing a bit at her as though she had been accused of being needy – which Lapis supposed was exactly what she had done, but she digressed. "Can you read?"

Well, that question probably could have been delivered a lot more gently. "Not the modern language, no." When she saw the look of disdain on Peridot's face, she couldn't help but get defensive. "I'm still advanced in the language that was around when we were children, though!"

"That one hasn't been used by anyone since the war." The technician sighed heavily and exasperatedly. "But yeah, this isn't good news. It's about as far from good news as it can get."

"So read it to me."

She rolled her eyes, much to Lapis's frustration. "The long and short of it is that the Diamond Authority is sending backup, including Yellow Diamond herself. They're headed to Beach City."

Despair settled in rather quickly as the ocean gem's eyes widened. She grabbed Peridot and quickly flew up out of the water. She didn't even have to say that they needed to hurry as she quickly took off in the direction of the seaside town.


	14. Chapter 13

Backstage Protection

A Steven Universe Fanfiction

Chapter 13

_A/N: I'm sorry this wasn't up the other day, it was Mother's Day and I was either out of the house or watching home videos with my mom all day. Also, a quick explanation for a paragraph a ways down; Lapis is Blue Diamond's daughter, and their relationship is a bit strained. Sorry for having to explain this up here, but a lot of my headcanon development happens in roleplaying and muse development._

Lapis had flown faster than she ever had before, and touched down on the sand of an all-too-familiar beach in less than an hour. She was exhausted, partially held up by Peridot, but she couldn't afford to take a break. She grabbed onto her companion's shoulder and started sprinting down the water line, looking for the temple and house that she knew served as the home of Steven and the other Crystal Gems. Her breath was coming in ragged gasps, and her head was light. _Keep going. Keep going. Keep going._

After what felt like forever, she reached a point where she could see the house. She took a sharp turn and ran to the edge of the porch's steps, and, with limited time and not a lot of energy, she just allowed Peridot to scramble onto her back before flying up onto the wood with a single, strong flap of her wings. The watery appendages disappeared into her gem as she hesitated before knocking on the door frantically, still trying to slow her breathing to a standard rate. She'd never been this exhausted before, not even when she'd flown millions of light years to Homeworld, but fear was overriding both the fatigue and her bitterness for the Crystal Gems. Peridot hopped off her back and just stood back, hoping to go unnoticed.

The door quickly opened, and Lapis's heart melted slightly when she was met by the grinning face of Steven. "Lapis!" He crowed, throwing his chubby arms around the ocean gem, and she carefully patted his head. "I knew you'd come out of the water eventually, I knew it!" He pulled away after a moment to look at her, a concerned look on his face. "Why are you so tired, though?"

She had finally caught enough breath to speak, and did so as calmly as she could, not wanting to frighten Steven. "Jasper broke out of the fusion and attacked me. I ran and found Peridot, and a lot of stuff happened, but she's not a danger to you anymore, so don't worry. Peridot got a message after I got hurt, and it says that Yellow Diamond – she's one of the leaders on Homeworld – is on her way to Earth with lots of other gems to reactivate the Kindergarten herself, and probably attack you and the Crystal Gems. We came as fast as we could to warn you-"

Lapis trailed off when she realized that a certain large fusion was standing before her, her throat constricting with intimidation – as unwilling as she was to admit it, she was a little afraid of Garnet. She fought the instinct to grab Steven and draw him close to her, as she was certain that wouldn't go over well, and just stood still, dark blue eyes wide.

Garnet glanced at Peridot before looking back to Lapis, crossing her arms as a frown crossed her lips. "Thank you for the warning." She spoke, hiding any emotion in her voice. "But what reason would you have to tell us? Either of you."

It was the green gem that spoke up, stepping forward to grab onto her partner's hand – by some miracle, they were both able to hide the blushes that threatened to taint their cheeks. "Lapis is rather attached to the Steven. She would do just about anything to protect him. As for me, I have nothing left on Homeworld, and Lapis is my….." She hesitated, glancing at the ocean gem in an attempt to figure out how to describe their relationship, before finishing the sentence. "… friend. This is important to her, so I am helping."

Garnet nodded and seemed to accept this answer. "Steven, go get Pearl and Amethyst. They should be at the Galaxy Warp." she spoke, and the child ran off with a little nod. Lapis became more uncomfortable without the presence of her friend, and Peridot seemed to pick up on this, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

The leader of the Crystal Gems watched her foster son go before turning back to the two Homeworld gems. "I appreciate you coming to tell us of the coming danger, but I'm not sure if there's anything we can do against an army. I hope you know that."

Lapis wasn't sure if she quite liked the tone the fusion spoke with. It was a tad too motherly, and reminded her of a time when she was on decent terms with her own mother. "There has to be something you can do. You have an entire planet, all the resources that come with it, and billions of natives."

"We are not letting the humans fight, there really isn't much we can do against advanced gem technology. I'm guessing that there's more powerful devices than those gem destabilizers, and we barely beat those."

There was silence as Lapis and Peridot thought. Lapis, of course, had no idea what to do; she wasn't even familiar with much of Homeworld's technology, let alone how to fight back against it. The best hope at the moment was the technician, and even she seemed to be having trouble thinking of any ideas. Part of the ocean gem wondered if Peridot had ever had any of the tech used against her.

"I know enough coding." The green gem finally spoke slowly, unsurely. "And some of what I have still works. I may be able to send a transmission back to Homeworld telling them that everything is fine and Jasper was trying to lead them into a trap. It'll have negative consequences for Jasper, of course, but I think I'm beyond caring."


	15. Chapter 14

Backstage Protection

A Steven Universe Fanfiction

Chapter 14

_A/N: Okay, this is the last chapter before the epilogue and very, gloriously late. OH AND I Know Lapis technically already has her weapons (the water wings) but I wanted some dramatic effect that cannot be gathered with some flight mechanics._

Peridot was about ninety-nine percent sure she had never felt so pressured in her entire life. With the screen in front of her and one of the Crystal Gems occasionally coming to stare over her shoulder, not to mention the endless presence of the Steven sitting in the corner and watching her carefully, she was incredibly stressed out and exhausted.

Her sole finger worked tirelessly to code and send test messages, gnawing her bottom lip relentlessly as her eyelids grew heavier. She didn't need sleep, but oh lord, did she want it. She wanted it from the forced productivity in her mind to the coldness and soreness that came with holding her arm up for extended periods of time.

"Do you have it yet?" Pearl asked, peeking over her shoulder and unintentionally causing the stress levels to skyrocket. Peridot knew the gems were impatient and worried, but this was nerve-wracking enough as is.

She grit her teeth a little. "No. I don't. And I don't think I'm very close either, so don't ask that." The pale gem glanced at her apologetically before practically _prancing _off to check on Steven.

Peridot continued working, her performance dropping ever so slightly with her exhaustion. She was a tad surprised when small arms wrapped around her from behind and the very familiar feeling of Lapis's cheek pressed against her back came to her.

Relaxation set in almost embarrassingly quickly. "I asked them to leave while you work," the ocean gem explained softly. "I could tell they were stressing you out. I... I should go too, actually. Less pressure the better."

She was about to stand, but stopped when the response was a whine from the other gem. So she returned to her position.

"No. You're helping keep me relax. And I think you're reminding me of why I'm doing this." Peridot spoke, continuing to work on her screen. She seemed to be closer with every passing moment.

Lapis remained silent for a time, just resting against the working technician. She supposed this was a bad time to be asking such a question as the one pressing in her throat, but hey, if they were going to die soon enough it wouldn't make much of a difference.

"Peridot... do you still have feelings for me?"

The green gem tensed and hesitated before clucking her tongue and answering, trying to sound smooth but unable to hide the undertones of embarrassment in her voice. "You'll have to be more specific, Lapis. There are many kinds of feelings."

"Like in a... romantical sort of way."

Well, there was no hiding the blush that spread from her face to her neck. She briefly considered lying, but decided against it.

"Yes. That's the honest answer. However, you made it clear that you do not return my affections, and so I have not pushed it."

She swore she could feel Lapis smile against her back. "Being honest, Peri, I do return the feelings, but my brain told me it was wrong because of what happened back on Homeworld. But now you're doing this, and I guess it makes me feel like you may be worth loving again."

Oh, the odd sense of relief that washed over Peridot was like a blissful dip into the rivers of Heaven above. "Maybe, if we both get out of this alive, we can give it another shot." She spoke, unable to disguise the hope in her voice.

"_When _this is over and we're both alive, we're giving it another shot." Lapis replied sternly, poking the green gem's back lightly and playfully.

She continued working, but with a smile on her face instead of that half-dead and exhausted expression. She had been coding for hours – maybe days – and would likely be stuck there quite a while longer unless she caught a lucky break.

Having Lapis in such close contact with her, however, helped.

As for the ocean gem herself, she was rather happy indeed. She tightened her grip around Peridot slightly with a tiny sigh, almost in a bliss.

She fell asleep a couple of times while leaning against the working gem, and was startled out of one of these sleeps by a sudden cry of victory.

"I'VE GOT IT!"

She fell to the ground with a slight thud as the other gem jumped up and immediately started a call. Lapis knew right then to just shut up and stay laying where she was; the camera would not be able to hit her at her current level, and Peridot wouldn't lose any shred of how convincing she was.

She watched from the ground as the face of Yellow Diamond appeared on Peridot's finger screen. The ocean gem listened in on the conversation with her breath held.

"Ah. Peridot. Jasper has told me you had a sudden change of heart, and I have been assuming this is true."

"It most certainly is not, ma'am. She is lying; she wants myself and Lapis Lazuli dead. Unfortunately, I lost my comrade whilst running to escape Jasper. Fortunately, I seem to have found an abandoned human home and made my base there."

Honestly, it scared Lapis a little how good Peridot was at lying.

Yellow Diamond seemed to consider this answer, weighing the credibility of two of her most loyal gems. She seemed to choose Peridot's word over Jasper's, luckily.

"Do you require someone to come and collect you?"

"No, ma'am, I-"

Lapis didn't catch the rest of the conversation, because she was distracted by yelling outside. As the green gem kept talking to the leader, the ocean gem quickly crabwalked out of the house and ran to the edge of the porch to see what was going on.

_Fuck._

Jasper was there, and she was fighting the Crystal Gems. Pearl seemed to have already been beat, considering she was nowhere to be found, and Steven...

Steven was completely vulnerable and open to attack.

Lapis found herself jumping off the porch without a moment's thought and sprinting between Jasper and the Gems, several tendrils of saltwater coming from the ocean to pool around her feet. The brute seemed to be caught off guard momentarily before moving a fist forward in an attempt to hit the ocean gem.

"You dirty little traitor, I can't believe you're siding with the ones that kept you prisoner -"

Jasper was caught off guard when Lapis caught her wrist with a single hand of water; this seemed to be all too familiar to the catlike gem, so she was distracted with trying to free herself enough that she didn't notice that the ocean gem had just pulled something completely knew from the gem in her back.

Even the Crystal Gems seemed surprised. Nobody had thought she had a weapon, what with her hydrokinesis and water wings. But there stood Lapis, a magestic trident clutched in both of her hands.

She lunged forward and made a stab at Jasper's middle, but her target quickly moved out of the way, and so she attempted a swipe downward which also missed. Lapis seemed to have never used her trident before; her movements were clumsy, uncoordinated, and about as far from professional as one could get. She swallowed thickly before moving forward again, getting a little neater with the jabs she made at the brute before her, though she missed much of the time.

She took a deep breath, in her nose and out her mouth. She needed to figure out a way to take Jasper down, and fast. The hand wouldn't hold her forever, after all, and she had to make sure she could protect Steven... not to mention something within her wanted to impress anyone watching. This was the first time in Lapis's memory where she was on center stage willingly instead of being forced into it or trying to blend into the background.

Time seemed to slow for her as she matched her breathing with the ocean waves beside her, and the idea came as quickly as any idea could come. The hand released the brute, and the Crystal Gems made a sort of collective gasp of shock and horror as Jasper lunged forward at Lapis.

What nobody seemed to be expecting, however, was for several tendrils of water to snake out from the puddle at Lapis's feet and trip the much larger gem, forcing her to the ground. With a quick thrust downward, the ocean gem's trident pierced through the general's back and forced her to poof into her gem.

The shocked silence was deafening for a moment, and Garnet was the one to break it as she walked forward and quickly bubbled Jasper's gem, causing it to disappear.

Lapis put her weapon away, and squeaked in surprise when Steven rushed forward to hug her. "That was awesome!" The boy practically yelled. "You were so amazing! And your weapon is so cool, wow, I really didn't think you had one!"

The ocean gem snorted a bit and patted the mass of curls on his head. "Thanks." She responded, feeling strangely pleased with herself. She had just fulfilled her new mission. Wow, that was nice. But what was she supposed to do now?

Finally, she remembered Peridot. Before she could rush back to the house to check, however, the technician had rushed out the door. "They aren't coming! The planet is safe, and they have instructed me to try and 'keep you in line.'"

Cheers and whoops of victory came from Amethyst, who rushed over to Steven and completely lifted him off the ground and over her head, starting to run around in her joy. Lapis rushed up the porch steps and practically threw herself at Peridot, the two – lovers now, they supposed – embracing happily.

The leader of the Crystal Gems let some celebration time pass before approaching the two Homeworld gems. "What are you going to do now?" The fusion asked casually, looking at the much-shorter pair.

Lapis shrugged. "We don't really have a plan, I don't think. We're figuring things out as we go along. I just know we're not going back home."

Garnet nodded, her face stoic with thought. Both gems really wished they could see what her eyes looked like behind those shades. Then they might be able to tell a little easier – oh, who were they kidding. The fusion was like a puzzle piece, an eternal internal conversation going on that nobody else knew how to work.

"... Well, if you're willing to consider it, there's always room for you among the Crystal Gems."


	16. Epilogue

Backstage Protection

A Steven Universe Fanfiction

Epilogue

_A/N: Okay so, this is the first story I've finished in about a year, so I'm getting a little emotional while writing this. Sorry it wasn't updated yesterday, my mom's truck broke down on the way across the state so my schedule got all fucked up. Anyway, I said I'd do fusion, didn't I?_

Lapis had suggested the human custom of 'cuddling' one day, and to her surprise and delight both she and Peridot had enjoyed it. As time went on – days turning into weeks, weeks into months – the two newest members of the Crystal Gems found themselves intertwined on the couch, enjoying each other's warmth, almost all of the time, only breaking out of their cuddles to talk to Steven or go out on a mission.

Of course, the ocean gem was better at reading people than her green lover was, and could tell quite easily that their new teammates were getting rather annoyed with their frequent public displays of affection. At first, she didn't change anything, purely out of spite. However, after a while she knew that she would have to do something or stop, or she and Peridot would be thrown out or something of the sort.

Lapis hesitated, not wanting to break their cuddling but also knowing she would have to. She thought, wondering how the two of them could be as close as possible without being wrapped around each other frequently. Finally, her mind settled on something she never thought she would do after having to preform the act to protect Steven.

"Have you ever thought about fusing?" She asked, moving her face to look at Peridot.

"Hm?" The technician seemed caught a bit off-guard by this question and furrowed her eyebrows. "Why would I ever think of fusing? It is a combat tactic, and I was built to work with machines and create new technology, not to fight other gems.

"It's not _just _a combat tactic. I mean, look at Garnet. It used to be something to bring Gems with emotional bonds really close together, but when the Diamonds started conquering planets they made fusion into something of a battle practice."

"How do you know this?" The green gem huffed. "We're the same age, and it's been the same way as far back as I can remember."

"My mother told me about it." She blinked.

"Oh, right, I forgot. Daughter of a Diamond, lots of privileges and facts none of the rest of us could get our hands on -"

Lapis pressed their lips together, and could feel Peridot's face heating up and becoming an even deeper shade of green. When she pulled away, she could tell that her objective of getting her lover to shut up had worked out rather nicely.

"If we fuse, we can be super close all the time, and we won't have to worry about annoying anyone else or having our productivity down." She smiled, the smile she often used to get what she wanted from Peridot. "C'monnnn. And if we don't like it we can just split up the fusion and go back to doing what we've been doing."

The technician thought momentarily, glancing past Lapis and out the window so that smile wouldn't prevent her from reaching a logical decision. The ocean gem squeezed her even tighter, hoping that she could get out a 'yes' without having to be looked at.

"... Alright."

Yes!

Excitedly, the blue gem grabbed her lover and quickly stood up with her. The two bowed, causing their gems to begin to glow nearly immediately.

The steps were barely complicated; it was a very simple waltz, perhaps the sort that one would be taught in high school. Lapis was smiling so widely that after a few minutes Peridot couldn't help but smile as well. Once the dance had been completed, the green gem dipped the blue, and a warm light encased them as they joined as one and grew.

They settled into this new form rather quickly, and it was clear just from looking at them that the fusion was a stable one. Her two greenish-blue arms stretched, three eyes blinking open. She looked down at herself, unable to help a smile when she looked down at the crop top and baggy short pants.

Turquoise rather enjoyed being herself. She rather enjoyed it, indeed.

_**Fin.**_


End file.
